The oil tanker Nassia collided with an empty cargo ship at the entrance of the Bosporus. 27-29 people lost their lives. 9,000 tons of petroleum spilled and 20,000 tons burned for four days long affecting the marine environment.
Links: Turkey, Oil, Environment, Tragedy

1995 Mar 13

Two Americans working for U.S. defense contractors in Kuwait, David Daliberti and William Barloon, were seized by Iraq after they strayed across the border; sentenced to eight years in prison, both were freed the following July.
Links: Iraq, USA, Kuwait

World leaders, including President Clinton, held a summit in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, where they vowed unequivocal support for the Mideast peace process.
Links: USA, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, ClintonB

1996 Mar 13

Liggett, the nation's fifth-largest tobacco company, made history by settling a private class-action lawsuit alleging cigarette makers manipulated nicotine to hook smokers. Liggett became the first tobacco company to acknowledge that cigarettes are addictive and cause cancer. In 1997 Bennet LeBow, owner of Liggett, revealed that Philip Morris had agreed to pay $10 million per year in legal fees while he kept silent.
Links: USA, Smoking, Lawsuit

Thomas Hamilton (43) killed 16 kindergarten children, a teacher and himself in a classroom in Dunblane, Scotland.
Links: Scotland, Murder

1997 Mar 13

It was revealed that the 1995 award-winning autobiography of an Aboriginal woman, "My Own Sweet Time, " was actually written by a 47-year-old white man in Sydney named Leon Carmen.
Links: Australia

1997 Mar 13

Eddie DeBartolo, owner of the SF 49ers, was awarded a Louisiana casino license one day after paying former Gov. Edwin Edwards $400,000 in cash.
Links: Louisiana, SF, Corruption

1997 Mar 13

The UN General Assembly voted 130 to 2 for Israel to abandon its plan to build new Jewish housing on Arab land.
Links: UN, Israel, Arab

1997 Mar 13

In Australia it was revealed that the 1995 award-winning autobiography of an Aboriginal woman, "My Own Sweet Time, " was actually written by a 47-year-old white man in Sidney named Leon Carmen.
Links: Australia, Biography

A Jordanian soldier fired on Israeli junior high school girls on a field trip, killing seven of them. The soldier, Cpl. Ahmed Daqamseh, was later sentenced by a military court to life in prison.
Links: Israel, Murder, Jordan

1997 Mar 13

Four masked, suspected Islamic gunmen opened fire in a Christian village in southern Egypt and killed 14 men before escaping.
Links: Egypt

1998 Mar 13

It was reported that Carlos Ardila Lulle, owner of Postobon soft-drink bottling, was one of the richest men in Colombia.
Links: Colombia

1998 Mar 13

US Sergeant Major Gene McKinney (47), once the Army's top enlisted man, was cleared on 18 of 19 charges brought against him by women who said he pressured them for sex. He was convicted for obstruction of justice for trying to persuade his chief accuser to lie. McKinney was reprimanded and demoted by one rank.
Links: USA, Sex

1998 Mar 13

U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, D-Mass., announced he would not seek a seventh term.
Links: USA, Massachusetts

Israeli and Palestinian troops made a joint effort to end four days of protests over the killing of West Bank workers.
Links: Israel, Palestine

1998 Mar 13

In South Korea Pres. Kim Dae-Jung approved an amnesty that cleared the records of 5.5 million Koreans and freed scores of political prisoners. He also planned to release 2,300 prison inmates who spent over 2 decades in jail for supporting North Korea.
Links: South Korea

In Zimbabwe three Americans appeared in court on charges of terrorism, espionage and sabotage against Pres. Kabila. They had been tortured and pictures with the names: Gary George Blanchfield, Jona Lamonte-Dixon, and Joseph Pettijohn were displayed. The men were associated with Harvestfield Ministries in Indianapolis.
Links: Zimbabwe, CongoDRC, Indiana, Espionage

Serb government forces destroyed more than 25 homes of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, apparently in retaliation for the killing of Serb civilians.
Links: Albania, Serbia, Kosovo

1999 Mar 13

In Turkey 13 people were killed in a bomb attack on a shopping center in the Goztepe section of Istanbul.
Links: Turkey

2000 Mar 13

In Costa Rica 2 American women were found shot to death near Cabhuita. Emily Howell of Kentucky and Emily Eagen of Michigan were attacked while driving an SUV. A 16-year-old boy was later arrested and 2 other suspects were sought. Jorge Alberto Urbina (19) was arrested Mar 28. The 16-year-old was sentenced to 14 ˝ years in prison.
Links: Costa Rica, USA, Murder, Teens Amuck

2000 Mar 13

A quarter century after the end of the Vietnam War, US Defense Secretary Wil-liam Cohen arrived in Hanoi to push the pace of reconciliation.
Links: USA, Vietnam

2000 Mar 13

CBS began filming its "Survivor" show on the Malaysian island of Pulau Tiga. Filming lasted to April 20 and the last survivor was to be awarded a $1 million prize.
Links: Malaysia, TV

The Tribune Co. bought the LA Times in a $6.5 billion merger with the Times Mirror Co. This ended 119 years of ownership of the LA Times by the Otis and Chandler families.
Links: California, M&A, Journalism

2000 Mar 13

In Japan the government reported that the economy swung back into recession at the end of 1999.
Links: Japan

2000 Mar 13

In Taiwan the Taipei market dropped 617 points in fear of an election win by Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui-bian.
Links: Taiwan

2000 Mar 13

In Mongolia the Red Cross reported that winter blizzards had killed over 1 million head of livestock and that some 300,000 people were short of food. The dead animal number was soon raised to 1.8 million, or 1 in every 15 in the nation.
Links: Mongolia, Animal, WeatherAsia

2001 Mar 13

In China four writers were detained a few months after they had formed the New Youth Study Group for discussing political change in China. In 2003 Xu Wei (28) and Jin Haike (26) were sentenced to 10 years in prison for subverting state power. Yang Zili (32) and Zhang Honghai (29) were sentenced to 8 years. Wei and Haike were released On March 12, 2011, after completing their jail terms.
Links: China

In Costa Rica Shannon Martin (23), a student from Topeka, Kan., was stabbed to death, after she left a nightclub in Golfito, 100 miles south of San Jose. In 2003 Kattia Cruz, 28, and Luis Alberto Castro, 38, were found guilty of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison for the killing.
Links: Costa Rica, Murder

2001 Mar 13

Pres. Bush backed off from seeking reductions in carbon dioxide emissions due to projected higher energy costs from a shift from coal to natural gas.
Links: USA, Environment, BushGW

2001 Mar 13

Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian national who was arrested with a carload of explosives just before New Year's Eve 1999, went on trial in Los Angeles on charges of plotting to bomb Seattle and other U.S. cities during the millennium celebrations. He was convicted of terrorism the following month.
Links: Algeria, USA, California, Washington

2001 Mar 13

France announced its first case of foot-and-mouth disease, prompting the U.S. Department of Agriculture to suspend imports of livestock and fresh meat from the European Union.
Links: USA, France, Microbiology, Agriculture

President Bush declared at a news conference that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was a menace "and we're going to deal with him," and said Osama bin Laden had been reduced to a marginal figure in the war on terrorism.
Links: Iraq, USA, al-Qaida, BushGW

Pres. Mubarak of Egypt said he would press Iraq to readmit UN weapons inspectors and had received indications of agreement.
Links: Iraq, Egypt

2002 Mar 13

Hans-Georg Gadamer (102), German philosopher and influential in hermeneutics (the study of the understanding and meaning of texts), died. His work included "Truth and Method" (1960).
Links: Germany, Philosophy

2002 Mar 13

In India a high-court panel ruled that no religious ceremony may be held in Ayodhya at the 67-acre site of the former Babri Masjid mosque, destroyed by Hindus in 1992. Mahant Paramhans Ramchandra, head of the Ram temple movement, vowed to defy the court order.
Links: India

2002 Mar 13

In Indonesia Sjahril Sabirin, governor of the central bank, was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 3 years in prison. In 1999 some $80 million intended for the bailout of PT Bank Bali was used to help finance the election campaign of then Pres. Habibie.
Links: Indonesia

2002 Mar 13

Palestinians set off a bomb next to an Israeli tank escorting a convoy in Gaza and 3 Israelis were killed. 2 Palestinians stabbed an Israeli husband and wife in Nachliel. An Italian photographer was killed by fire from an Israeli tank.
Links: Italy, Israel, Palestine

In Zimbabwe Pres. Mugabe was declared the winner with 1.6 million votes to Tsvangirai's 1.2 mil. The opposition apposed the results and many observers described the process as deeply flawed.
Links: Zimbabwe

2002 Mar 13

In the Philippines Agus Dwikarna (b.1964), a Jemaah Islamiya Terrorist Operations Facilitator, was arrested. In July he was convicted of carrying C-4 plastic explosives and bomb parts at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport as he and two other Indonesians were leaving Manila for Bangkok. He was sentenced to a prison term of 10 to 17 years. In 2014 Dwikarna was deported back to Indonesia.
Links: Indonesia, Philippines

2003 Mar 13

Forced into a diplomatic retreat, U.S. officials said President Bush might delay a vote on his troubled United Nations resolution or even drop it, and fight Iraq without the international body's backing.
Links: Iraq, USA, BushGW